Draymond Green has a tendency to stay in the news for many reasons. Some are good, others not so much. The Golden State Warriors star recently hailed himself as the greatest defender in NBA history.
Of course, Green is a good defender, but the greatest ever? That’s doubtful. The former defensive player of the year has received mixed feedback for his comments from sports pundits and fans on social media.
NBA analyst Nick Wright falls into the category of someone who doesn’t agree with Green. On the show “First Things First,” Wright said:
“Draymond Green went out and once again and said he’s the greatest defender in NBA history. And, listen, Draymond is one of the greatest defenders ever. I believe he should have won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards, I’m on the record on that from years ago.
With that said: Stop it. Here’s the deal, Draymond. We don’t even have to talk Bill Russell, it’s too long ago, set him aside. If we just go post-merger, we’ve got to respect our elders here, and I’m not even talking about the great and underrated and Top 75 snub Sidney Moncrief, or Dennis Rodman, or Scottie Pippen, or even Dikembe Mutombo.
Even if you think you’re better than all of those guys, the two greatest defenders in modern NBA history are: No. 2, the somehow wildly underrated Tim Duncan, and No. 1 with a bullet, unquestionably the greatest defensive player of the last 50 years in the NBA, Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon. Hakeem’s blocks record will never be broken, ever. He has 3,800 blocks. The next closest is 3,200. If you added up Ben Wallace’s blocks and Dwight Howard’s blocks, you would barely pass Hakeem’s blocks, okay? Steals, he’s 10th all-time. As a center! There’s not another center in the top 60.
Hakeem Olajuwon is the greatest defender of all-time and I’m not asking you to go to (old archives) to watch tapes of him. Your guys’ careers damn near overlapped. So, I respect you Draymond, but just simmer down a bit. Hakeem “The Dream”: Greatest defender ever. Everybody knows it. Let’s move on. Thank you, Draymond.”
"Draymond should've won 3 consecutive DPOY awards. … But the 2 greatest defenders in modern NBA history are Tim Duncan &, No.1 with a bullet, Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem is the greatest defender of all time."
— @getnickwright on Draymond saying he's the GOAT defender: pic.twitter.com/0QEdmqFVQ1
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) December 14, 2021
Apart from calling out Green, Wright declared Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the greatest defenders in modern NBA history.
Wright’s rant is pretty correct and to the point. Olajuwon was one of the best players and defenders to ever grace the NBA. Looking at his resume, he finished his career with the most blocks ever in NBA history with 3,830 to his name. This feat alone is more than enough to hail him as the best defender ever. But combining his 1.7 steals average for his career puts him over Green with ease.
So it is safe to conclude that Hakeem Olajuwon is definitely the best defender in NBA history and Green isn’t even close.
